Stand for menus and the like

ABSTRACT

An inexpensive but reliable stand to support a readily bendable article such as a menu, photograph, display card or the like which is flexible in at least one direction, e.g., one of paperboard. The stand has three posts, two of which are on a common axis and the third is displaced laterally from said axis. Thus, the item to be supported may be bent into concave form and rigidly supported by engaging the same between the posts.

United States Patent Schwartz et a1.

[ STAND FOR MENUS AND THE LIKE Inventors: Sidney M. Schwartz, 10185 N.

Collins Ave., Bal Harbour, Fla. 33154; Avrum N. Andalman, 185 EuclidAve., Glencoe, 111. 60022 Filed: Apr. 17, 1972 Appl. No.: 244,726

u.s. Cl. 248/441, 248/469 Int. Cl A47b 97/04 Field of Search 248/441,443, 451, 248/453, 460, 463, 464, 465, 466, 469, 473; 40/125 H, 125 B,152.1, 155

References Cited UNITED sTATEsPATENTs Kessler 248/309 Dec. 18, 19732,206,775 7/1940 Hoofer ..248/214 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 5/1944Great Britain 211/148 Primary Examiner-Wi11iam H. SchultzAtt0rneyLeonard S. Knox [5 7] ABSTRACT An inexpensive but reliable standto support a readily bendable article such as a menu, photograph,display card or the like which is flexible in at least one direction,e.g., one of paperboard. The stand has three posts, two of which are ona common axis and the third is displaced laterally from said axis. Thus,the item to be supported may be bent into concave form and rigidlysupported by engaging the same between the posts. i

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures STAND FOR MENUS AND THE LIKE BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION Referring the invention to a restaurant menu, for example,many establishments prefer to keep the menu on the table or counterwhere itis readily available to the customer.

Thus, the customer may, upon taking his seat, have the menu close athand for consideration prior to being approached by the server insteadof deferring making his preference known until the server becomesavailable, and then ordering while the server fidgets at his side.

It is common practice to have the menu on the table, but supported in aspring clip which is either freestanding or secured to one side of thetable. In the former case, removing the menu necessitates the use of twohands since the base of the clip is too light to maintain its positionunaided. In both cases, it becomes inconvenient to direct an edge 'ofthe menu into the mouth of the clip. Consequently, annoyance ensues.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprehends a stand formenus, photos, display cards or similar articles in the nature of heavypaper or light cardboard capable of being readily deformed into a curveabout one axis, but incapable of taking a permanent set when so bent.Rigidly carried in a base is a plurality of upstanding posts, say threein number. Two of the posts are located on a common axis and the thirdis displaced laterally from said axis and essentially mid-way of thefirst mentioned posts. Thus, the article is slightly curved .by one orboth hands and inserted between the pegs, whereby it is held by theforces exerted when the article attempts to re sume its normal shape.The forces exerted by the arti-,

cle against thepegs are of a moderate nature, viz. just sufficient tomaintain the article in a vertical position, but permitting virtuallyfrictionless withdrawal. Since replacement of the article in the, standentails vertical movement and the article can be made to readily clearthe posts during this step, one is not obliged to hold the base while sodoing. The baseneed not be provided with ballast, so that in nearlyevery case, woodor plastic composition will meet the requirements.

Other objects are to provide a stand for the purpose stated which may be(I) readily molded in one piece from plastic composition, (2) whichrequires tooling of very low cost, (3) which is readily adaptable tomounting of a clip whereby the stand may be semipermanently anchored toa table or counter, (4) which may readily take decorative forms whenintended for use as an esthetic support for a photograph, and (5)wherein the mechanical features lending utility are scarcely noticeable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a standin accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a combined end elevation and cross section taken on the line22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation showing a permanent mode of attaching thestand to a supporting surface; and

FIG. 4 is an end elevation showing a semi-permanent mode of securing thestand to a supporting surface.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Adverting to the drawing, thereis shown, by way of example, a stand or holder 10 for a menu 12, orsimilar paperboard article which is readily flexed manually into acurved configuration, as shown,'but will assume little or no permanentset. The device includes a base 14 of suitable size and thickness,depending upon the dimensions and weight of the article to be supported,and 'of any desired peripheral configuration, e.g., rectangular,elliptical, free form, but which is shown, exemplificatively, asrectangular.

Upstanding from the base 14 is a set of three posts or pegs 16a, 16b,160. The first two lie on a common axis II, and the third has its centerlaterally displaced from said axis by an amount II. The post 160 islocated essentially mid-way between the post 16a and 16b. These pegs maybe cylindrical, as shown, or of any other cross section. The height ofthe posts measured from the base will be so chosen as to affordacceptable support, depending upon forces tending to displace thearticle; a taller article will. require a relatively greater height ofpost, and a shorter article, a lesser height. In the case where the base10 is easily machined, the same may be bored to receive the posts with apress fit. In the case of a molded assembly, the posts may be anintegral that the article 12 may be bent as shown, located around andbetween the posts and released, whereupon the inherent resiliency of thearticle will maintain the same vertically pending withdrawal. If asloped position of the article is desired, the posts may be positionedwith their axes correspondingly inclined. This alternative is ideallysuited to articles such as photographs, display cards and the like whichare intended to be viewed from above at a comfortable angle. If it isdesirable to secure the device to the top of a counter or table 22, aplate 24 (FIG. 3) may be secured to the base 14 and the top 22 by meansof screws 26 and 28.

If semi-permanent location is desired, a spring clip 30 screwed at 32 tothe base 14, may be employed.

In order to preclude-slippage, the bottom face of the base 14 may becovered with a frictional material, such as felt or rubber, as shown.

As an alternative, the posts 16a, 16b, 16c may be encased in sleeves ofgum rubber to increase the friction.

It will have become apparent that mounting of the article will present aconcave surface when viewed from one side, and a convex surface whenviewed from the other. Thus, the user has immediate choice. For example,one may prefer a convex presentation of a photograph and another persona concave presentation. In either case, the photograph or other articlemay be assembled with a sheet of transparent material, e.g., of methylmethacrylate for protection of the surface, and this sheet need not bepermanently secured to the article. Under these circumstances, impartingcurvature to the article and protective sheet will tend to maintain goodsurface-to-surface contact and therefore, preclude entry of foreignmatter.

We claim:

1. In combination, a sheet of flexible yet generally shape retainingmaterial having spaced opposite margins, and a stand for supporting thesame, said stand turn toward its normal condition and into interengagedrelation with said posts, the margins of the article exerting forceagainst respective ones of the first mentioned posts and that part ofthe article intermediate said margins exerting force against the thirdpost, the direction of the force exerted on the article by the firstmentioned posts being opposed to the direction of the force exerted onthe article by the second mentioned post.

1. In combination, a sheet of flexible yet generally shape retainingmaterial having spaced opposite margins, and a stand for supporting thesame, said stand comprising a base, a pair of mutually spaced-apartposts upstanding from said base on a common axis, and a third post,upstanding from said base, displaced laterally to one side of said axison a line which is transverse to said axis and intermediate said pair ofposts spaced whereby the article, while momentarily held in a curvedcondition between its said margins, may be located with one of its facesagainst said first-mentioned posts and the other of its faces againstsaid third post and, upon release of the holding force, permitted toreturn toward its normal condition and into interengaged relation withsaid posts, the margins of the article exerting force against respectiveones of the first mentioned posts and that part of the articleintermediate said margins exerting force against the third post, thedirection of the force exerted on the article by the first mentionedposts being opposed to the direction of the force exerted on the articleby the second mentioned post.